I’m a rule follower. I always go the speed limit, I never stay out past curfew and skipping school is out of the question – until this past Thursday. 

My Sociology 100 class is every Tuesday and Thursday from 2:30 to 4:00. It’s my first class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and has not been an inconvenience throughout the semester – until now.

I love my class for a multitude of reasons: my professor is the cutest man ever, the chair I sit in is extremely comfortable—but not too comfortable to the point where I might fall asleep – and I am able to scan news headlines during lecture, when I start losing focus, and I don't feel judged by my peers. I’ve never had a legitimate reason to skip lecture and even if I felt overwhelmed in one of my classes, I would still go just because of my inevitable guilt.

March 20 began like any other Thursday: I woke up at 8:30 a.m., had breakfast, went to the gym and then finished folding my laundry. I was ahead of schedule in nearly all of my classes and did not have any assignments looming. Once lunchtime hit, my roommate—also in my sociology class—suggested we grab lunch before lecture. I readily agreed because, come on, who can pass up a non-dining hall meal?

We walked toward State Street with our stomachs grumbling and our brains anticipating a thought-provoking lecture on the sociology of family. At this point, neither of us had any intention of skipping class. We discussed how much we enjoyed class and, even though it was a large lecture hall, we felt that our professor did a great job at making us feel like a part of a personal conversation with him.

It approached 2 p.m. as we paid our bill and exited the restaurant. I couldn’t help but feel glad to be making it to lecture on time and not feeling the least bit rushed. There was something about taking my sweet time walking in the Michigan Diag and taking in my surroundings. As we made our way to the lecture hall, my roommate stopped. She gave me that I-might-be-getting-sick-and-I-wanna-take-a-nap look. This look was familiar and I knew at that moment that a lecture on how our society defines family was not in my future. I was about to spend the next hour and a half in my dorm room watching Netflix with my roommate as she chugged Emergen-C and alternated between covers on and covers off.

Initially, I felt so guilty for skipping class. Though it wasn’t my roommate’s fault for getting sick, I almost thought I let my professor and GSI down. I hated knowing that other students sat in my chair and were scanning the same news headlines I had become accustomed to scanning. As embarrassing as it is, I was convinced that people I didn’t even know were judging me for skipping lecture.

As a freshman, I thought I had to go to every class and attempt to pay attention. I thought it was my responsibility as a student to always be on time and put forth my best effort. This is still true. But what I realized on March 20 was something quite different. There are circumstances that take precedence over class.      

College is very similar to the real-world in the sense that sickness and emergencies are good reason for hooky, while shopping and fro-yo are not. As I grow up, I’m learning more and more that nothing is perfect and, sometimes, things will be out of my control. While attending class is extremely important and can only help me in the long run, it’s okay to play hooky once in awhile.